NYC amongst greatest summer season journey locations for 2026, WalletHub says

New York City is among the many greatest summer season journey locations for 2026, a brand new WalletHub study discovered.

According to WalletHub, about 72% of Americans plan on touring this summer season, with 37% of them planning to take a couple of journey. The actual query is, the place ought to folks journey this summer season to take advantage of out of their journey?

“When picking a summer travel destination, it’s easy to focus just on the types of activities you want to do or certain cities you’ve always wanted to see,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo mentioned. “However, choosing a destination that’s not only entertaining but also affordable is important when travel, dining and activity costs have surged so much in recent years.”

To decide the most effective journey locations this summer season for Americans to get the most effective bang for his or her buck, WalletHub ranked the most affordable and most accessible cities within the United States. The research in contrast 100 U.S. cities throughout 41 indicators, starting from the price of the most affordable flight to the variety of sights to the common value of a two-person meal.

Here is what to know concerning the rankings for NY cities.

Why is NYC among the many greatest summer season journey locations?

New York City scored the No. 16 spot for WalletHub’s greatest summer season journey locations, with an general rating of 63.60.

The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area scored the No. 6 spot for the sights rank, No. 5 for the actions rank, No. 88 for the native prices rank, No. 43 for the journey prices and hassles rank, No. 66 for the climate rank and No. 46 for the security rank.

The different NY metro space cities did not rank so properly on WalletHub’s checklist. Here is the place they positioned:

• Buffalo- Cheektowaga, NY Metro Area: No. 43
• Rochester, NY Metro Area: No. 73
• Syracuse, NY Metro Area: No. 74
• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metro Area: No. 90

WalletHub’s 10 greatest summer season journey locations

1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA Metro Area
2. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metro Area
3. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX Metro Area
4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area
5. Urban Honolulu, HI Metro Area
6. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area
7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area
8. Salt Lake City, UT Metro Area
9. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area
10. Richmond, VA Metro Area

WalletHub’s 10 worst summer season journey locations

• No. 91: Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area
• No. 92: Santa Rosa Petaluma, CA Metro Area
• No. 93: Bakersfield, CA Metro Area
• No. 94: Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area
• No. 95: Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA Metro Area
• No. 96: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area
• No. 97: Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metro Area
• No. 98: Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area
• No. 99: McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Metro Area
• No. 100: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area

How WalletHub assessed greatest summer season journey locations

To decide the most effective U.S. summer season trip locations, WalletHub in contrast 100 of probably the most populated metro areas throughout six classes: journey prices & hassles, native prices, sights, climate, actions and security.

The journey prices & hassles class analyzed these elements:

• Cost of most cost-effective flight
• Duration of most cost-effective flight
• Number of connections on most cost-effective flight
• Cost of shortest flight
• Duration of shortest flight
• Number of connections on shortest flight
• Share of delayed flights

The native prices class analyzed these elements:

• Cost of dwelling
• Average fuel costs
• Lowest nightly fee for three-star lodge room
• Average value of two-person meal

The sights class analyzed these elements:

• Number of sights
• Diversity of sights

The climate class analyzed these elements:

The actions class analyzed these elements:

• Restaurants per capita
• Prevalence of inexpensive eating places with scores of 4.5+ stars
• Amusement parks per capita
• Presence on TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 Amusement & Water Parks” checklist
• Wellness & spa facilities per capita
• Retail buying facilities per capita
• Music venues per capita
• Coffee & tea retailers per capita
• Ice cream & frozen yogurt retailers per capita
• Tennis courts per capita
• Golf programs and nation golf equipment per capita
• Baseball & softball diamonds per capita
• Basketball hoo[s per capita
• Bike-rental facilities per capita
• Food festivals per capita
• Quality of parks
• Public beachers per capita
• Presence on TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 Beaches” List
• Water Temperature
• Swimming pools per capita
• Water parks per capita
• Boat tours & water sports per capita
• Hiking trails per capita
• Beer gardens per capita
• Time of last call

The safety category analyzed these factors:

• Violent crime rate
• Property crime rate

Data used to create the ranking was collected as of April 14, 2026, and was sourced from multiple entities, including the U.S. Census Bureau, TripAdvisor, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and World Sea Temperature.

—Madison Scott is a New York Connect reporter, covering entertainment, breaking and consumer news, and trending topics with a focus on stories that matter to readers across New York state. She also has an interest in how the system helps or doesn’t help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@USATodayco.com.